Young Greek Student to Work for Google

Maria Dimakopoulou may look like the average young Greek girl, but she in fact, is an IT genius. During her studies at the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) Maria managed to solve a computing problem that had troubled computer engineers for years.

In 2012, during Dimakopoulou’s third year of IT studies at NTUA, the young student joined an international team of algorithm researchers to work with Google, in Paris. It was at that moment that she showed her genius by solving a problem that had troubled Google and Intel engineers for many years. As a reward she received awards by both companies.

The young student has stated that a great part of her success is due to her studies at NTUA. “Someone doesn’t just go to Google and suddenly become smart. I had very dynamic professors with the desire to be exceptional in the field internationally. The quality of the lessons and the offered training were for me decisive to what I attained,” she has said.

Maria received Google’s Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship promoting excellence in computer science and technology. Following her success in 2012, she was invited to speak at a CERN conference and last year she visited Silicon Valley to participate in a joint program by NASA and Google, regarding artificial intelligence and nano technology.

In December 2014, she will start work at Google’s advertizing systems in New York. Through her successful last two years, she has stated that she has no regrets about her choice to study in Greece. “I wouldn’t have swapped my studies with some other university abroad. When I first got into the University top of my year, I had been told that I could go to any university I wanted. It was a conscious choice to stay here and that course of action has been vindicated. It is an exceptional school if you have the desire to advance.”

“If I had not followed closely the university’s lessons, if I didn’t have my professors to support me, I would have achieved so much. An important part of what I have done is because of the people who taught and trained me to do the best that I can.”